


Jason Brown-Weisenbachfeld and the Car Crash

by SheWantsItAll



Series: First Grade Jason [5]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Car Accidents, F/M, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marvin & Trina Friendship (Falsettos), Marvin is a Mess (Falsettos), Trina is too good for this world, good husband Marvin, so many feeings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28207542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWantsItAll/pseuds/SheWantsItAll
Summary: Jason and Whizzer are in a car accident on the way home from school.
Relationships: Marvin & Trina (Falsettos), Trina/Mendel Weisenbachfeld, Whizzer Brown/Marvin
Series: First Grade Jason [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995193
Comments: 41
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter One

Marvin had started to worry when Whizzer and Jason didn't get home from Jason's school pick up at the usual time, but he had reminded himself that something could have been a traffic jam or a surprise stop for ice cream. 

He started to pace ten minutes later, when there was still no sign of them. No call. No message. Nothing. Whizzer always at least texted him when they were running late, knowing his anxious, worry wart tendencies. 

After half an hour of waiting he was really worried. He had tried calling his taller (better) other half several times and received no answer. He sat down on the couch and held Noodles, trying to convince himself that everything was fine. That he was overreacting, but he had a bad feeling, and he wasn't wrong. 

After anxiously awaiting their arrival for nearly an hour he got a call from the hospital that they had been in a bad car accident and had both been admitted in critical condition. There had been a frantic call to Trina, who was equally frantic, and a taxi ride spent begging the driver to just _go faster_. They had arrived at the emergency room at nearly the same time, meeting up in the waiting room in a frantic haze. 

That had been almost an hour ago.

Marvin bounced his knee, staring at the beige speckled tiles. Everything sounded far too loud and part of him wanted to go anywhere else, but there was nowhere in the world where he could go that would make anything better. There were so many people in the waiting room, all dealing with a version of what he was going through. 

He could hear Trina crying in her chair next to him, he could hear Mendel attempting to comfort her. He knew that he should probably be trying to do the same, but he couldn't unglue his eyes from the floor. Even if he could he knew he wouldn't be able to think of a single comforting thing to say. 

He felt like the world was ending. _His_ world _was_ ending. The two most important people in his life were... who knows what? When they arrived at the hospital they had been told that Jason and Whizzer were both in Critical Condition. That sounded like a half step above the worst case scenario. Critical Condition sounded like they were never going the same again. 

The dark part of his brain went haywire and he couldn't stop the mental images of his two favorite people looking dramatically different from the way that they should. Jason and Whizzer covered in blood. Jason and Whizzer laying lifeless in hospital beds. Jason and Whizzer in caskets. Jason and Whizzer buried in the ground. He felt sick.

How was he supposed to live with that? How was he ever supposed to be able to deal with a world without them? A world without either one of them was horrible enough, but even worse- without both of them was unimaginable. 

He had to move. Sitting there wasn't helping anything. There wasn't anything he could do to help the situation if he was moving, either. But maybe it would help get his mind off the situation.

He paced back and forth across the floor in front of the row of chairs where he, Trina and Mendel had been sitting. Shaking his hands at his waist in an effort to release some of his nervous energy. 

_I should probably call his parents_ , He thought. Whizzer's parents. The thought of having to call them and give them the news made things even more overwhelming. They were amazing human beings, and they talked often- that wasn't the problem. He just wasn't sure if he could stand to say it. Saying it would just make it all the more horribly real. Still, he knew that if he was okay, no, he reminded himself, when he was okay, Whizzer would want them to know what was going on. 

He fished his phone out of his pocket, ignoring the way his hands shook as he scrolled through his contacts for Elaine's number. He found it and hit the call button, waiting as the phone rang over and over. He almost hung up, wishing that he had taken more time to plan and rehearse what he would say. 

He risked a glance at Trina and Mendel while he waited and found them huddled together, both of them with tears on their cheeks. He heard Mendel whispering reassurances and quickly went back to focusing on the tiles, sure that if he let himself cry he might never stop. 

The phone finally stopped ringing and he heard Elaine Brown's cheerful voice. "Marvin! I'm so glad you called! I wanted to talk to you boys about coming to visit next month- maybe on the weekend with Jason?" 

He froze. How was he supposed to tell her what happened? His heart twisted painfully. He was going to have to tell her. 

"Marvin? Are you there?"

"Yeah. Um.. I don't... We're... Whiz and Jason were in a car accident. We don't know what's happening yet. We're at the hospital waiting..." He mentally kicked himself for not being more tactful. He should have thought this through more before he called. 

"Are they okay? What do you know?" 

"Nothing yet... Someone ran a red light and," he drew in a shuttering breath, "and hit the drivers side door. Jason was in the back... that's.. that's all I know," 

"I'm looking at plane tickets. We can be there tomorrow night."

"Thank you..." he let out a sigh of relief. He had done his duty. They knew. They were coming. 

"Are you holding up okay kiddo? You're not there all alone, are you?"

"Trina and Mendel are here too... I'm sorry I didn't call sooner. It happened about an hour and a half ago I jus-"

"You don't need to apologise," she assured, noting the lack of response to her first question, "keep us updated if you can, yeah? A text is enough but if you want to call..." 

"I will. I promise"

"You're a good boy. I'm going to call Samantha and let her know, so don't worry about that. And I'll let Michael know. Try not to worry too much. The doctors know what they're doing. We love you,"

"Love you too..." He murmured before hearing the line go dead

If he'd had the presence of mind, he would have taken a moment to be thankful for his in-laws, who had welcomed him in from the start. Who had loved on him more in the years since he and Whizzer got together than his own parents had ever done his entire life. However, he didn't have the brain space to spare for that at the moment. 

_What if they weren't okay?_ The thought plagued him, swirling around his brain enough that it made him dizzy. _What if the doctors didn't know what they were doing? What if the reason that they hadn't heard anything yet was because his husband and son were already dead_? 

That last thought was enough to send him over the edge. He looked around frantically and after spotting his target destination made a b-line for the restroom.

He rushed to crouch in front of the toilet before his lunch could make a reappearance. Gross. He rested his head in his hands, and desperately tried to breathe normally. 

He heard the door open and close, then lock, followed by the sound of heels clicking against the tile. Trina had come after him. 

"Oh Marvin," her voice was soft and sympathetic and she looked down to find him with tears running down his cheeks. She took a deep breath, taking a moment to be thankful that she'd had time to compose herself. They couldn't help one another if they were both falling apart at the same time. 

"Do you feel any better now, sweetie?" the pet name slipped out of her without a care. Their relationship was entirely platonic, but that didn't mean she didn't care. She mentally scolded herself for not checking in on him. She had been so caught up in her own distress that she didn't even notice. She had Mendel to help her through it. He didn't have anyone right now. 

She watched him long enough to see him nod slightly before she started to dig through her bag, pulling out a half empty bottle of water and a tin of mints before pressing them into his hands. 

"Clean yourself up a little, alright?" instructions were safe. She knew that he could handle instructions. She flushed the toilet, cringing slightly before moving to perch on the small plastic upholstered bench along the opposite wall, probably placed there for nursing mothers. 

She watched as he rinsed his mouth and washed his face at the sink before turning and looking at her. She hadn't ever seen him look so hopeless. 

"C'mere," she said quietly, patting the space on the bench beside her. He hadn't said a word. 

He sat beside her, and she quickly wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly like she would their son. 

She felt him tremble and her self-blaming guilt was amplified ten fold. She rubbed his back gently, occasionally whispering nonsense reassurances, but otherwise letting him cry it out in peace.

Marvin kept his face tucked into her shoulder longer than was necessary while he tried to pull himself together. 

Admittedly, he felt much better than he had out in the waiting room. He had come a long way over the last few years in terms of accepting himself and his emotions, but he just couldn't let himself go and feel this way with all those people in the waiting room watching him. Trina was different. She had seen him at his worst more times than he would like to admit. There was no animosity or shame between them. 

"I don't know what's going on inside your brain, but I know it isn't good. They're going to be alright. Both of them."

"You don't know that,"

"Marvin," she pulled away slightly to look him in the eyes, but didn't sever contact completely, "This is one of the best hospitals in the country. Jason was sitting in the safest car seat on the market,"

"Whizze-"

"Whizzer is the only man I know more stubborn than you are. He's a fighter. He's in good hands. They're going to take good care of him, and he's going to be fine" there was a fondness in her voice that people rarely held for the men who stole their husband. 

Marvin nodded hesitantly.

"I want you to say it"

He sighed, "Trina..."

"Nope. No excuses," she pulled back and dried his face gently with the cuff of her sweater. "Whizzer and Jason are going to be fine. Your turn." 

"Whizzer and Jason are going to be fine" He sniffled, moving back in to hug her once more, "Thanks, Trin"

"You're welcome. Now. We're going to go back out there and sit down and wait for someone to come talk to us and tell us that they're just fine."

They both stood and headed to the door. Before he could open it, she grabbed his hand and stopped him. 

"And we're going to talk so that your brain doesn't have the chance to go to that dark place again. If you feel yourself freaking out again, you're going to tell to me, right? You're just going to make it hurt more by trying to bottle it all up."

He made no promises, but quietly agreed, feeling very very thankful not to be alone.

They sat in the waiting room for what felt to Marvin like far too long. It was nearly another hour of terrible hospital coffee machine coffee and quiet solidarity and hope. 

It was starting to get dark outside when a tired looking woman in scrubs finally emerged, asking for the family of Jason Brown-Weisenbachfeld.


	2. Chapter Two

"Family of Jason Brown-Weisenbachfeld?" the tired looking doctor called.

The three parents were up in a flash, motioning her over. 

Marvin's heart was racing. What was she going to tell them? She didn't look overly happy. What if it was bad news? What if-

He felt Trina's hand slip into his and squeeze and he forced himself to take a deep breath. 

"Your son is incredibly lucky. He's got a mild concussion and his wrist is fractured. We did an MRI to rule out any severe damage from the concussion. He's on some fairly heavy pain medication and a mild sedative to help him rest. He should be alright,"

Marvin felt so relieved. He almost couldn't believe it.  _ His baby was okay _ . The tightness in his chest seemed to evaporate "He's going to be okay??"

The doctor smiled, "He's going to be okay. Probably a bit sore for a while, and feeling the effects of the concussion, but with rest he'll be as good as new in a week or so. The fracture will take a bit longer, but he'll get his cast off in three or four weeks."

She looked back at her clipboard. "Now... the man that he was brought in with," she squinted slightly, "Whizzer Brown?" 

"Yes?" He asked, hope plain in his voice as a wave of optimism overtook him. Jason was okay. Maybe Whizzer would be too. 

"Maybe we should all sit down..."

All of his optimism slipped away and Marvin swore he felt the world crashing in on itself. He was dead, wasn't he? What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to...

Trina tugged on his hand and he stumbled backwards to the chairs they had been sitting in. 

The doctor pulled a chair over and sat across from them. "Mr. Brown is still under observation. As you know, the impact was directly to his door. When the airbag deployed it hit his head and we're concerned that it may have caused some damage. He's got a broken nose and some severe bruising. We're concerned about brain damage. We've done an MRI like we did for Jason to rule out any bleeding, which is good, but we won't really know until he's awake."

"What exactly does that.. mean? Why is he under observation??"

"They're watching him closely to make sure that there isn't any bleeding in his brain- that can cause major problems, and while he's clear on that front right now, we need to keep a close eye on him for a while longer to know there aren't going to be any new developments."

"What about… what about what's happened already? What's his.. prognosis?" he cringed internally at the way his voice shook, and felt Trina squeeze his hand tightly. 

"We'll know more when he's awake. I don't want to scare you with the worst case scenario when chances are that he'll be alright. There's a wide range of possibilities and there's really no way for us to know until he's conscious, hopefully in the morning. He's sedated and probably won't come around until morning, but he should be back in the room in an hour or so,"

His mind was racing. Why wouldn't they just tell him? How was he supposed to hope for the best when he couldn't be prepared for the worst? Despite the uncertainty, he managed a slightly wonky, half-hearted smile towards the doctor, "Thank you for letting us know…"

~~~

Marvin stood on one side of Jason's bed, carefully smoothing his hair down and feeling so so thankful that he was alright. It was heartbreaking to see his little tiny body battered in the way it was, but he was alive, and he was going to be okay, and that was enough. He felt slightly guilty for feeling so relieved. He looked across at Trina and Mendel, wrapped in one another's arms he had to push down a twinge of jealousy. 

While the majority of his conscious thought was 1. absolute pure elation that Jason was okay 2. dread that he couldn't see Whizzer and didn't have anywhere near enough information about his condition, there was a tiny sliver of thought that went to, possibly selfishly, wishing Whizzer was there, worrying about Jason right along with him, so that he didn't have to be so alone. There was also a very brief flash of concern for the family cat. 

_ Oh no. _ He thought,  _ Noodles _ . 

"What about Noodles?" He heard Mendel ask. 

Oops. Did he say that out loud? "I didn't feed her.. I came as fast as I could and I didn't even think.." 

"She'll be fine, right? Missing one meal won't hurt her..."

"Jason's going to be mad at me...He always calls to make sure one of us fed her..." 

Before Trina could gently nudge or send a pointed look to her husband, suggesting that HE go feed Noodles, he had disengaged from his position with his arms around her. She watched as he kissed Jason's head, quietly promising that he would be back soon and that he loved him. 

"I'll go," he turned to Marvin, "do you have keys?" 

Marvin shook his head "I'm sorry. I left so quickly, I just.. sorry." 

"No problem- I'll grab Cordelia's spare set... Text me a list and I'll grab some stuff you need"

"Thanks, Mendel. You're a lifesaver." He hoped that Mendel could tell how genuinely grateful he was.

So the remaining two parents sat side by side in uncomfortable chairs next to Jason's bed. Marvin watched him intently, reaching out every now and then to adjust his blanket or fix his hair or brush his hand. He knew that the kid probably had no awareness of what was going on, but on the off chance that he did know, he wanted to make sure that he knew they were there, waiting for him. 

He took out his phone and started doing brain damage research. The doctor hadn't wanted to tell him anything and he was starting to understand why. Reading about all of the potential outcomes was starting to make his head spin. Coma, paralysis, vegetative state, complete personality change. 

It looked so much worse than he expected. How was he supposed to go through life without Whizzer as he should be? 

_ At least he's alive. _ He's going to be okay. A world with  _ any _ Whizzer was far better than even the notion of a world with no Whizzer at all. 

Several minutes passed and Trina realized that Marvin had gone perfectly quiet. She looked over and found him with his phone in one hand and a finger of the other hand at his lips as he bit at his nails. 

"Marvin," she said quietly. 

He didn't look up, continuing to gnaw at his fingernails as he scrolled through some article. 

" _Marvin_ ," she tried again, a bit more forcefully

He still didn't look at her. 

Trina slowly reached up and gently wrapped her fingers around his wrist, pulling his hand away from his mouth. 

"You know he hates it when you bite your nails," she murmured, knowing that playing the Whizzer card was probably the only way she could get through to him. 

She watched as he dropped his hand, but only momentarily before starting to move it back again without a second thought. She quickly dug through her purse, pulling out one of Jason's many fidgets that came to reside in the void there. 

Trina pressed the little pea pod into his hand and he started to fiddle with it. He fought the urge to bite his nails. Trina wasn't wrong. Whizzer  _ did _ hate it when he bit his nails. He would give anything to hear Whizzer scold him for biting his nails at that moment. If he closed his eyes and really thought about it, he could almost hear it. 

They had been through so much over the last year. His HIV diagnosis had caused so much stress and anxiety for both of them, despite the state of modern medicine. Marvin was _so_ incredibly grateful for modern medicine. He hoped that modern medicine was enough to fix what was going on right now.

Being at the hospital, entirely uncertain of what was to come felt a lot like that day, but with the added layer of terribleness that was Jason being hurt. 

He felt Trina's arm loop around his shoulders and belatedly realized that he was crying again.

"I.. I'm sorry" he stammered out, immediately swiping at his face in an attempt to erase the evidence of his distress.

"Hey. Stop that. Don't apologise for being upset." she pulled him closer, hugging him tightly and feeling an intense protectiveness that she rarely felt for anyone but their son rise up inside of her. 

_Jason is okay, he reminded himself_. Jason's going to be okay. His baby was okay. He pressed a hand to his mouth in an effort to stop any sounds from escaping. He felt so incredibly relieved, knowing that Jason was going to be alright, but that didn't stop him from feeling overwhelmed over not knowing about Whizzer's condition. 

Mendel never got a list of what he should be trying to get. He fed Noodles, who at the sight of her near empty food bowl seemed to have decided she had been completely abandoned and was sitting beside the door meowing when he arrived, and had taken a picture of her for Jason, so that he would know she was okay when he woke up. 

He didn't think he had ever been as worried as he was for Jason. He tried to focus on the task at hand, checking his phone once again for a list of needed items. Still no list. He sighed and grabbed a large reusable grocery tote and set about wandering though their apartment and throwing in things that seemed useful. 

_If Trina was in the hospital, what would he want?_ The thought made him shudder, but he scooped up a pastel color block sweatshirt that had be Whizzer's and dropped it into the bag. 

He retrieved two sets of soft pajamas, two phone chargers, a scruffy paperback novel from what was, judging by it's geeky and cluttered nature, was Marvin's side of the bed, and an extra set of comfortable clothes for each of them, just in case, unaware of how long their stay would be. He scooped up two separate weekly medication organizers and a travel kit that had been packed for their planned weekend adventure and stuck everything in the bag before he headed for Jason's room. 

He grabbed everything that would fit in the bag that would hopefully make him feel even a little bit better. One of his favorite stuffed animals, dinosaur pajamas, the copy of The Wizard of Oz he knew they had been reading on the weekend, and the blanket from the end of his bed. He also grabbed a coloring book and a pack of crayons, just in case he got bored and felt up to it. 

He checked his phone one last time for a list, and when there wasn't one, he decided that what he had would be a good start and he could come back for anything else, and headed back to the hospital. 

Mendel returned to the hospital with coffee in hand and found Trina and Marvin sitting side by side next to Jason's bed practically velcroed together. He tucked the stuffed penguin in next to him and took a seat next to Trina and settled in to wait. 

~~~

Jason opened his eyes slowly. Where was he? And why did everything hurt? 

He forced his eyes open the rest of the way and looked at the ceiling... it looked like the ceiling at school. Why was he at school? And why was he in a bed at school? That wasn't right. He tried to sit up, but he was so dizzy that he quickly flopped back down. 

He let out a whine. Why was everything so confusing? 

All of a sudden there was a face above him. He blinked rapidly, trying to get his vision to clear.

"Daddy?" He was so confused. Why did he look so sad? What was going on? If he looked that sad, something had to be wrong. 

The last time he looked that way... Oh no... 

There was another face, and then another. 

"Momma? Pop? Daddy? Wh-What happened? Where..?" He trailed off, suddenly exhausted. Words were hard. 

He found himself wrapped up in Daddy's arms, and felt two other sets of hands resting on his back and his shoulders and stroking his hair. "Oh baby..."

"Jason, there was an accident- do you remember?" That was Momma. She sounded calm. Maybe everything was okay. 

He shook his head briefly before wincing. That really hurt. 

"Keep your head still, sweet boy."

He held on tighter to the back of Daddy's shirt. He was scared. What kind of accident? Where was Papa?

"Wh-Where's Papa?" He felt arms tighten around him and heard Daddy sniffle. 

Momma continued in her calm, even voice, "He's here at the hospital too. He's hurt like you are, kiddo- we're not sure how much though, he'll be here soon"

That was just too much for him. That was too much like last time he had been at the hospital. When Papa was sick and Daddy was sad and they didn't know what was going on. He had been so scared. This was just like that, except now his head hurt really bad and his arm was in a weird thing. Jason buried his face back into Daddy's shirt and sobbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you all had a safe, happy holiday! The next chapter should be out within the next week! I'm still not a medical professional, so if anything is glaringly wrong please let me know!
> 
> Stay safe, make good choices, and wash your hands 💖💖
> 
> Also.. I'm not sure how to make the end note from the first chapter stop showing up on the second one? If you know... Please send help


	3. Chapter Three

Jason hid his face and wailed. It hurt his head and that just made him cry harder. Everything was terrible and he couldn't breathe. He unclinched his fingers and covered his own ears with his hands, continuing to sob as he gasped for breath. 

Marvin's heart broke when Jason dissolved. The kid always just felt so much. He rocked him gently, running fingers through his hair. They had been in this position more times than he would like to admit, and there was really nothing to be done other than to try to comfort him and wait it out. 

Jason's first preschool teacher had suggested that he might be "Highly Sensitive" when he started to struggle with what could only be called separation anxiety that persisted long past the majority of the other children. They took it into consideration- reading books and articles and mommy blogs. They had all agreed that many of the kids in the articles sounded spookily like their Jason. 

They had all read and studied and tried to take what lessons they could without forcing a label. They never wanted to put him in a box that he wouldn't be able to escape. 

He rocked him gently, "you're alright baby... Shhhhhh..."

"Hurts," he wailed and Marvin tried to bring him closer, desperate to do anything to ease his pain. 

"I know it does... I know baby...shhhhhh shshshsh," he rocked him gently, knowing that he was trapped in a vicious cycle- he was crying because he was upset, but also because his head hurt, and the fact that his head hurt made him cry more, which made his head worse. 

He looked desperately at Trina and Mendel as Jason started to hyperventilate, before an idea struck him. He remembered reading about a person who said their mom was a daycare teacher who would give students a cup of water if they were crying. That you can't cry _and_ drink at the same time. 

He reached for the hospital mug that had been left at the side of Jason's bed before carefully maneuvering him into a seated position on his lap. He kept his arms wrapped around him, gently applying pressure as he held the giant plastic cup.

"I need you to drink some, baby. We don't want you to run out of tears,"

Jason's eyes widened and he choked on a sob. Marvin mentally slapped himself in the forehead. He was so dumb sometimes. 

" _There are no perfect parents_ ," that's what Whizzer would say if he were here. He allowed himself a tiny smile, comforted by the thought. 

He paid close attention as Jason drank, his breathing slowly evening out as he did so. He felt so relieved. The goal in these situations was usually to make him feel secure enough that he would calm down on his own, but it was rare that he was actually this worked up. Marvin knew that the intensity of his crying was making things worse on his poor little concussed brain. 

"That's it...see, isn't that better?" 

Jason nodded slightly. His head did feel better. Well. Less bad. His tummy was in knots though. 

He gently pushed the cup away and twisted back to tuck his face back into the warm darkness of Daddy's shirt. The dark made his head hurt less. He sniffled to keep his nose from running. He wanted to ask what happened to Papa. He wanted to know what was going on, but he was just so tired and he hurt so much. 

Marvin rocked him gently, running fingers through his hair in an effort to lull him back to sleep. 

The evening passed slowly. Trina eventually reclaimed her son, untangling him from Marvin's arms ever so carefully so that she could hold him for herself. After a while she climbed into the hospital bed, unwilling to put him down but uncomfortable sitting on the straight backed chair. She had hesitated, but quickly decided that anyone who might try to tell her not to would just have to deal with it. 

Marvin pawed through the tote that Mendel had brought. Finding all the things he possibly could have thought of that he needed. He quickly plugged his phone in, knowing that he hadn't updated Whizzer's family since they arrived. Not that there was a ton to tell them. He dug a bit farther and found the essentials- meds, toiletries, and then, at the very bottom, a very soft, very pastel pullover. 

He pulled it out, smiling at the worn fabric before pulling it over his head. It was soft and warm and so very Whizzer. He took a deep breath, face pressed into the sleeve, feeling immensely comforted by Whizzer's phantom presence. 

For the first time in hours they weren't in an immediate crisis. Jason was safe- cuddled up with Trina and out like a light. Whizzer was alive. They knew for sure that he was alive. Mendel and Trina both seemed fine. Everything was going to be alright. 

When Whizzer came back around, he was going to have to keep it together. Even if they were in the best case scenario, he was going to need help- actual, real help. Marvin knew that he wasn't going to be any help at all if he was a sniffling, weepy mess. He had to get it together and keep it that way. 

He thought about the worst possible outcomes for what had to have been the hundredth time that night: coma, paralysis, memory loss, personality change, vegetative state. All of them were... less than ideal. They would get through it though. He knew they would. Even if it was the worst case scenario. 

A gentle knock at the door startled him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw the end of a bed that was being wheeled in through the door. He was on his feet immediately, eyes fixed on the bed, then, as it appeared, on Whizzer's face. 

Oh no. His poor face. 

He was so injured. Marvin had been so focused on the injury effects that he hadn't actually considered the physical damage. His face was horribly bruised and on one side, near his chin...burned? He remembered reading something about airbags and exothermic reactions. As upsetting as it was it thankfully seemed minor compared to some of the photos he had seen.

He stepped back to make enough room for them to wheel Whizzer the rest of the way in, locking eyes with the doctor as soon as she walked in. 

"Alright Mr. Brown, as you know he's in stable condition. We've ruled out any bleeding in his brain, but we'll probably do another scan in the morning just to be certain. We can't be certain when he'll wake up... barring a coma, hopefully tomorrow sometime."

Marvin tried to take everything in as quickly as he could. "Coma?" he asked, still stunned.

"It's a possibility, though not a strong one. We're very hopeful. His vitals are good, so he should be back with us tomorrow sometime." 

He nodded, feeling strangely... distant. 

"Someone will be in every hour or so to check on him, as well as Jason, just as a precautionary measure. I'll be back in the morning."

"Thank you..." 

All of the people in scrubs who had flooded into the room in the doctor's wake had been hard at work, hooking Whizzer up to various monitors, only making things seem more severe than they already did. They left behind her as quickly as they came, and the family was left there, alone in the quiet room. 

The night passed in a blur. Only two of them were allowed to stay overnight, one per patient, and Mendel kindly volunteered to leave, promising to return as soon as visiting hours started the next day. 

They spoke intermittently, sharing memories and sentimental funny moments, and snoozing on an unspoken schedule with one of them always awake just in case something happened. 

Around four in the morning, while it was Trina's unofficial time to rest, he took his eyes off of Whizzer's resting form for long enough to email his boss and request the rest of the week off, explaining that there had been an emergency. He didn't let go of his hand. He also emailed Jason's school, and Mr. McKinley directly, briefly explaining the situation and letting them know that he wasn't sure when he would be back. 

He took time to text Elaine again, hoping that it wouldn't wake her up. 

**"Still doing okay… no changes yet"**

He tried to focus on something other than the uncertainty surrounding Whizzer's condition. He scrolled through news articles, reading headlines that were supposed to be tragic but didn't seem like a big deal in the moment, he tried to read the book Mendel brought and ended up reading the same page six times before he realized that wasn't going to work. He eventually settled on swiping back through all of the pictures he and Whizzer had exchanged over texts, smiling at all the pictures of them on various adventures with Jason, and some of them all together. 

Eventually, he rested his head on the side of the bed. It wasn't his unofficial turn yet, but he wasn't going to go to sleep. He just needed to close his eyes for a minute...

~~~

Whizzer forced his eyes open and glanced around the room, taking in the familiar sight that filled him with dread. He was in the hospital. Seeing Marvin next to him was unbelievably comforting. Seeing Trina sitting in a bed across the room holding Jason was the opposite of comforting. 

He felt alright. Pretty foggy, but he wasn't in pain. The IV stuck in the crook of his elbow was probably responsible for that. 

"Marvin? Marvin wake up..." He wiggled his hand a little bit. His voice sounded... weird. Like he was drunk. He knew he wasn't drunk though. That wasn't even a question. 

Marvin's head was up in an instant, as was the rest of him. He stood, staring at Whizzer with a look of shock. He had spent ages anticipating the worst, so much so that he had almost convinced himself that it was going to happen. 

He shifted back and forth on his feet, filled with questions that it probably wasn't the time for. He fought the urge to fling himself into Whizzer's arms and instead settled for stepping forward to take his hand again, resting the other hand on his shoulder, being as careful as he could not to hurt him. 

"Whizzer! How do you feel? I was so worried, I.." he stopped. One question was enough. He needed to stop before it all fell apart. 

"Foggy...and like I'm trying to move through wet concrete... Is Jason okay?" His words were still slightly slurred together-what was up with that?

"He's got a concussion and a broken arm… he was really worried about you, but they said he's going to be okay. I think he's going to be almost as happy to see your eyes open as I am."

He realized that Marvin's eyes were red and watery and his heart ached. The accident had happened on the way home from Jason's school, and while he didn't know what time it was, it was dark outside. It had been a while. Thinking of him waiting all this time, now knowing what was happening was painful all on its own. He put all of the effort he could muster into scooting over towards one side of the bed. It didn't hurt, but it was so hard just to move.

"C'mere, sweetheart.." he patted the space he had made awkwardly, every movement was jerky, lacking any of his usual grace. He watched as Marvin hesitated, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. 

"Hey.. it's okay. C'mon," he pulled at his hand gently.

When he still didn't move, Whizzer let go of his hand, collapsed dramatically onto the pillows behind him and pouted. "Marvie please? I want love." 

How was he supposed to argue with that? Marvin gingerly perched on the edge of the mattress. He leaned back against the back of the bed and rested his head on Whizzer's shoulder as gently as he possibly could. He let his feet dangle off the side of the bed, prepared to move back to the chair at the first sight of any intruder. 

"You always have my love," he murmured, leaning in closer. This wasn't his plan. His plan had been to keep it together- to show no weakness. He knew that Whizzer was trying to comfort him more than he was trying to gain comfort for himself, but he was too relieved and too exhausted to care about the plan. The plan was Future Marvin's problem. 

He closed his eyes, and listened to Whizzer's steady heartbeat and he could feel his entire world being turned right side up again, set back to the way it should be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! I hope that you're doing well so far. I'm not sure if I like this chapter or not, but I've edited it multiple times and I don't think that another go would make me like it any more. Thank you for sticking with me this far 💖
> 
> Please remember that just because the calendar year has changed, nothing else really has. 
> 
> Stay safe, wear a mask, and wash your hands 💖💖💖

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Writing a multichapter fic with a full outline and full intent to finish it? It's more likely than you think. 
> 
> The next chapter should be out soon, hopefully within a week!
> 
> If you celebrated Hanukkah earlier this month Happy Hanukkah! If you're celebrating Christmas this week, Merry Christmas! If you're not celebrating anything, Happy Winter. 💖💖
> 
> Side note- I'm working on a separate throwback wedding fic. I'm not Jewish, but I want their wedding to be Jewish Enough. I'm trying to decide if I think the gang is religiously Jewish or just culturally Jewish. From my understanding and research, Reform Jews tend to be more liberal, so I feel like that's where they would fall if they're religious. Thoughts? Feelings?


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